More Christian Zionists than Muslims in U.S.

Christians United for Israel (CUFI), the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States, recently announced that it has surpassed 3 million members. According to recent estimates, that is more than the total number of American Muslims.

Muslims currently make up approximately 0.9% of the U.S. adult population, or 1.8 million Muslim adults. If children are included, the Muslim population in the United States totals 2.75 million Muslims in the country, the majority of whom (63%) are immigrants.

The Pew Research Center recently updated its count, estimating 3.3 million Muslims “of all ages” in the U.S. — still smaller than the total number of adult Christian Zionist activists represented by CUFI.

CUFI is, however, largely overlooked by the mainstream media in favor of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which includes Christians but is predominantly Jewish.

AIPAC is considered one of the more powerful lobby groups on Capitol Hill. However, it failed to prevent President Barack Obama from reaching a nuclear deal with Iran that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called an “historic mistake” because of its far-reaching, unilateral concessions.

As 2015 began, Christians United for Israel (CUFI) proudly announced that their membership had surpassed the 2 million mark. In just under a decade since its founding, the Christian Zionist organization had become the largest pro-Israel group in the country.

But just a few months later, news headlines were dominated by turmoil between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama as well as negotiations surrounding the Iran’s nuclear program. As attention focused on the U.S.-Israel relationship as well as surging anti-Semitism around the world, CUFI saw their membership growth shift into overdrive—and membership now exceeds 3 million.

Not all American Muslims are anti-Israel — a few are even openly — but many leading Muslim organizations take a harsh anti-Israel line, reflecting prejudices that are often imported from the Middle East with waves of new Muslim immigrants.